the chemical composition, free radical scavenging, -amylase inhibitory, and 5-lipoxygenase inhibitory activity of the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of centaurea pterocaula trautv. were examined. twenty-nine compounds corresponding to 93.2% of the oil were identified in the oil of c. pterocaula. hexadecanoic acid (13.9%), caryophyllene oxide (11.5%), spathulenol (11.4%), (e)--damascenone (5.0%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (5.0%), and tetradecanoic acid (4.9%) were the main compounds of the oil. the oil exhibited good anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting 5-lipoxygenase with an ic50 value of 86.22 ug/ml. the oil was found to be active against dpph radical and -amylase with ic50 values of 83.05 and 79.66 ug/ml respectively, while it showed moderate activity against abts radicals with ic50 value of 360.9 ug/ml. to the best of our knowledge, this is first report on the chemical composition of c. pterocaula essential oil from turkey; as well as on the biological activity of its essential oil.